Apr-28 8:30pm SBS-World Movies: Where Hands Touch
April 6, 2022 by J-Wire
Germany 1944. 15-year-old Leyna (Amandla Stenberg), daughter of a white German mother and a black father, lives in fear due to the colour of her skin. Read more
Mozart, Haydn and Schubert according to Umberto Clerici: A music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
March 31, 2022 by Fraser Beath McEwing
The SSO hit the popularity bullseye last night with symphonies by Mozart and Schubert along with Haydn’s trumpet concerto. Read more
Phantom of the Opera: Murray Dahm talks with Naomi Johns
March 25, 2022 by Murray Dahm
Naomi Johns was very excited to be involved in her first-ever Opera Australia publicity when I spoke with her ahead of the opening night of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour’s Phantom of the Opera production which opens tonight. Read more
La Juive: an opera about the forbidden love between a Jewish woman and Christian man
February 18, 2022 by Features Desk
After pandemic restrictions shut down its scheduled opening in 2020, acclaimed French director Olivier Py’s new production of La Juive will finally have its Australian premiere at the Sydney Opera House, this coming March. Read more
Killing Katie: Confessions of a Book Club – a theatre review by Hila Tsor
January 24, 2022 by Hila Tsor
Killing Katie: Confessions of a Book Club begins through the narrative voice of Linda (Bron Lim) who meets up with her fitness obsessed friend Sam Andrews (Georgina Symes) to talk about the past, and present. Read more
Shira Haas hosts IPO 85th anniversary
January 5, 2022 by Features Desk
Marking the 85th anniversary of the founding of Israel’s most revered and respected cultural institutions, the Israel Philharmonic (IPO) has released a unique Film chronicling the IPO’s history and its lasting impact on music both within Israel and across the globe. Read more
The Nazis Knew My Name: a remarkable story of survival and courage in Auschwitz
January 5, 2022 by J-Wire
This book is about Magda Hellinger. It is an amalgam of materials both from writings and stories shared by Magda as well as those she recounted through the oral histories programs of both Melbourne’s Jewish Holocaust Centre and the Visual History Foundation [often described as the Spielberg project]. Read more
The Covered Wife: a book review by Jeffrey Cohen
December 13, 2021 by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
Over the past year or so there seems to have been a fascination in one way or another with Orthodox Judaism. Read more
Come from Away: a musical review by Victor Grynberg
October 28, 2021 by Victor Grynberg
It would not be accurate to describe “Come from Away” as simply a musical. Read more
Can Robots be Jewish? And other pressing questions of Modern Life: a book review by Jeffrey Cohen
October 6, 2021 by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
Amy Schwartz serves as the opinion and book editor at Moment Magazine. Moment is one of the more independent and thought stimulating magazine in the Jewish world started by Leonid/Leibl Fein over fifty years ago and is still being published today as an independent but also inclusive journal. Read more
Frances Prince launches her book “Gift of Time”
October 5, 2021 by Nomi Kaltmann
A new book, written by well-known community personality Frances Prince is launching this week in Melbourne. Read more
Have I got a Cartoon for You: The Moment Magazine Book of Jewish Cartoons
October 3, 2021 by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen reviews the book edited by Bob Mankoff. Read more
Aida: Tragic love story is operatic triumph – an opera review by Victor Grynberg
June 24, 2021 by Victor Grynberg
Re-staged in Sydney for the first time since its amazing success in 2018 this digital backgrounded production of Giuseppe Verdi’s blockbuster reached even greater heights this season. Read more
Clerici was going to swap his bow for a baton: Music review by Fraser Beath McEwing of a phantom concert
June 23, 2021 by Fraser Beath McEwing
Covid wiped out tonight’s concert, much to my disappointment. Read more
Big blasts from Beethoven and Brahms: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
June 17, 2021 by Fraser Beath McEwing
In last night’s Sydney Town Hall concert, Brahms was ranked above Beethoven – when the SSO performed Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello, and Piano in C major, Op. 56, before intermission, with Brahms Symphony No. 3 in F Major in prime-time after. Read more
Vox out of the box: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
May 23, 2021 by Fraser Beath McEwing
The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs could hardly have offered a more popular choral work than Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana as the centrepiece of their concert in the Sydney Town Hall yesterday. Read more
Lots of luscious Ludwig: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
May 13, 2021 by Fraser Beath McEwing
The lure of familiar Beethoven was probably enough to virtually covid-fill the Town Hall last night, but for those with more contemporary tastes, there were a couple of works for their corner too. Read more
Tear drops and wrecking balls: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
April 22, 2021 by Fraser Beath McEwing
While most of my reviews cover the SSO Masters Series (the substantial concerts that are sponsored by Abercrombie & Kent) every so often I am tugged by the heartstrings to an SSO Symphony Hour performance supported by Credit Suisse. Read more
Coherent Judaism: Constructive theology, Creation & Halakhah: A book review by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
April 21, 2021 by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
I am sure that a number of my colleagues (and friends) would question whether Judaism could ever be coherent, especially with the words Halakhah as well as theology in its title. Read more
Six Minutes to Midnight – a movie review by Roz Tarszisz
April 7, 2021 by Roz Tarszisz
I often wonder if a story is old fashioned merely because it is set in the past. British film and television consistently produce fine dramas set in bygone eras and this one is no different.
Violetta dies, but La Traviata will live forever: an opera review by Victor Grynberg
March 30, 2021 by Victor Grynberg
Two of the most popular operas of all time are Giacomo Puccini’s LA BOHEME and Giuseppe Verdi’s LA TRAVIATA. Read more
Incidental music on the way to heaven: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
March 14, 2021 by Fraser Beath McEwing
Although I’ve often heard the full-strength Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in the Sydney Opera House, it was nearly always teamed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in some major, combination work. Read more
Last Kings of Shanghai: a book review by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
March 11, 2021 by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
There are many who will read this review who would have heard of the Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who issued some 1800 visas in Kovno in 1940 which enabled the holders to transit Japan and spend the war years in Shanghai. Read more
One of the best: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
February 26, 2021 by Fraser McEwing
Like a rich layer of icing on a cake that may not have been to everybody’s taste, the SSO sent us home last night haunted by Saint-Saens Symphony No.3, the much loved ‘organ symphony’. Read more
The Miracle Typist: a book review by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
February 24, 2021 by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen
Leon Silver’s The Miracle Typist is a powerful true story of one soldier’s long journey home. Read more
A flying start despite Covid: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
February 11, 2021 by Fraser Beath McEwing
“What a privilege it is to make music again” violin soloist Daniel Rohn called to the Covid-thinned Town Hall audience last night before embarking on his stunning Bach encore. Read more
The Merry Widow: an operetta review by Victor Grynberg
January 6, 2021 by Victor Grynberg
So there we were in the Joan Sutherland Theatre of the Sydney Opera House, about to see our first Opera Australia production since their magnificent production of the early Verdi masterpiece “Attila” had its season dramatically curtailed by the arrival of COVID fears 10 months ago. Read more
What are you doing on Tuesday evening?
December 14, 2020 by Arts Editor
Tune in at 7.30pm tomorrow night for a free digital concert performed by AWO colleagues and two stellar visual artists. Read more
The Freedom Circus: a book review by Geoffrey Zygier
December 3, 2020 by Geoffrey Zygier
As the years pass by and the number of survivors dwindles, the stream of Holocaust-themed books continues to gush. Read more
Happy birthday Ludwig : a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing
November 19, 2020 by Fraser Beath McEwing
Working within coronavirus limitations, the Australian Chamber Orchestra is framing its early resuscitation around smaller audiences and multiple performances. This made for a roomy gathering at the Sydney Recital Hall last night. Read more
